II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1064 

To amend the Public Health Service Act with regard to research on asthma, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act with regard to 

research on asthma, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Asthma Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The number of people ever diagnosed with 

8 asthma increased by 50 percent between 1998 and 

9 2012. According to the Centers for Disease Control 

10 and Prevention, in 2012 more than 25,500,000 


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1 Americans had been diagnosed with asthma, includ2 ing an estimated 6,800,000 children. 

3 (2) According to the Centers for Disease Con4 trol and Prevention, in 2010 more than 3,400 Amer5 icans died from asthma. The rate of mortality from 

6 asthma is higher among African Americans and 

7 women. 

8 (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre9 vention report that asthma accounted for approxi10 mately 480,000 hospitalizations and 2,100,000 visits 

11 to hospital emergency departments in 2009. 

12 (4) According to the Centers for Disease Con13 trol and Prevention, the annual cost of asthma to 

14 the United States is approximately 

15 $56,000,000,000, including $5,900,000,000 in indi16 rect costs from lost productivity. 

17 (5) According to the Centers for Disease Con18 trol and Prevention, 10,500,000 school days and 

19 14,200,000 work days are missed annually as a re20 sult of asthma. 

21 (6) Asthma episodes can be triggered by both 

22 outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution, in23 cluding pollutants such as cigarette smoke and com24 bustion by-products. Asthma episodes can also be 


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1 triggered by indoor allergens such as animal dander 

2 and outdoor allergens such as pollen and molds. 

3 (7) Public health interventions and medical care 

4 in accordance with existing guidelines have been 

5 proven effective in the treatment and management 

6 of asthma. Better asthma management could reduce 

7 the numbers of emergency department visits and 

8 hospitalizations due to asthma. Studies published in 

9 medical journals have shown that better asthma 

10 management results in improved asthma outcomes 

11 at a lower cost. 

12 (8) In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control 

13 and Prevention reported that less than half of people 

14 with asthma had been taught how to avoid asthma 

15 triggers. More education about triggers, proper 

16 treatment, and asthma management methods is 

17 needed. 

18 (9) The alarming rise in the prevalence of asth19 ma, its adverse effect on school attendance and pro20 ductivity, and its cost for hospitalizations and emer21 gency room visits, highlight the importance of public 

22 health interventions, including increasing awareness 

23 of asthma as a chronic illness, its symptoms, the role 

24 of both indoor and outdoor environmental factors 

25 that exacerbate the disease, and other factors that 


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1 affect its exacerbations and severity. The goals of 

2 the Federal Government and its partners in the non3 profit and private sectors should include reducing 

4 the number and severity of asthma attacks, asthma’s 

5 financial burden, and the health disparities associ6 ated with asthma. 

7 (10) The high health and financial burden 

8 caused by asthma underscores the importance of ad9 herence to the National Asthma Education and Pre10 vention Guidelines of the National Heart, Lung, and 

11 Blood Institute. Increasing adherence to guidelines12 based care and resulting patient management prac13 tices will enhance the quality of life for patients with 

14 asthma and decrease asthma-related morbidity and 

15 mortality. 

16 SEC. 3. ASTHMA-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTERS 

17 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

18 Section 317I of the Public Health Service Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 247b–10) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 317I. ASTHMA-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTERS 

21 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

22 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION AND

23 EDUCATION TO THE PUBLIC.—The Secretary, acting 

24 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

25 and Prevention, shall collaborate with State and local 


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1 health departments to conduct activities, including the 

2 provision of information and education to the public re3 garding asthma including— 

4 ‘‘(1) deterring the harmful consequences of un5 controlled asthma; and 

6 ‘‘(2) disseminating health education and infor7 mation regarding prevention of asthma episodes and 

8 strategies for managing asthma. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE ASTHMA PLANS.— 

10 The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers 

11 for Disease Control and Prevention, shall collaborate with 

12 State and local health departments to develop State plans 

13 incorporating public health responses to reduce the burden 

14 of asthma, particularly regarding disproportionately af15 fected populations. 

16 ‘‘(c) COMPILATION OF DATA.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

18 and Prevention, shall, in cooperation with State and local 

19 public health officials— 

20 ‘‘(1) conduct asthma surveillance activities to 

21 collect data on the prevalence and severity of asth22 ma, the effectiveness of public health asthma inter23 ventions, and the quality of asthma management, in24 cluding— 


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1 ‘‘(A) collection of household data on the 

2 local burden of asthma; 

3 ‘‘(B) surveillance of health care facilities; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(C) collection of data not containing indi6 vidually identifiable information from electronic 

7 health records or other electronic communica8 tions; 

9 ‘‘(2) compile and annually publish data regard10 ing the prevalence and incidence of childhood asth11 ma, the child mortality rate, and the number of hos12 pital admissions and emergency department visits by 

13 children associated with asthma nationally and in 

14 each State and at the county level by age, sex, race, 

15 and ethnicity, as well as lifetime and current preva16 lence; and 

17 ‘‘(3) compile and annually publish data regard18 ing the prevalence and incidence of adult asthma, 

19 the adult mortality rate, and the number of hospital 

20 admissions and emergency department visits by 

21 adults associated with asthma nationally and in each 

22 State and at the county level by age, sex, race, eth23 nicity, industry, and occupation, as well as lifetime 

24 and current prevalence. 


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1 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION OF DATA COLLECTION.—The 

2 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven3 tion, in conjunction with State and local health depart4 ments, shall coordinate data collection activities under 

5 subsection (c)(2) so as to maximize the comparability of 

6 results. 

7 ‘‘(e) COLLABORATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Centers for Disease 

9 Control and Prevention are encouraged to collabo10 rate with national, State, and local nonprofit organi11 zations to provide information and education about 

12 asthma, and to strengthen such collaborations when 

13 possible. 

14 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.—The Division of 

15 Adolescent and School Health is encouraged to ex16 pand its activities with non-Federal partners, espe17 cially State-level entities. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

19 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro20 priated $65,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2016 

21 through 2020. 

22 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary shall, in consultation with patient groups, 


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1 nonprofit organizations, medical societies, and other 

2 relevant governmental and nongovernmental entities, 

3 submit to Congress a report that— 

4 ‘‘(A) catalogs, with respect to asthma pre5 vention, management, and surveillance— 

6 ‘‘(i) the activities of the Federal Gov7 ernment, including an assessment of the 

8 progress of the Federal Government and 

9 States, with respect to achieving the goals 

10 of the Healthy People 2020 initiative; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the activities of other entities 

12 that participate in the program under this 

13 section, including nonprofit organizations, 

14 patient advocacy groups, and medical soci15 eties; and 

16 ‘‘(B) makes recommendations for the fu17 ture direction of asthma activities, in consulta18 tion with researchers from the National Insti19 tutes of Health and other member bodies of the 

20 National Asthma Education and Prevention 

21 Program who are qualified to review and ana22 lyze data and evaluate interventions, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(i) a description of how the Federal 

25 Government may improve its response to 


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1 asthma, including identifying any barriers 

2 that may exist; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the Federal 

4 Government may continue, expand, and 

5 improve its private-public partnerships 

6 with respect to asthma, including identi7 fying any barriers that may exist; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the identification of steps that 

9 may be taken to reduce the— 

10 ‘‘(I) morbidity, mortality, and 

11 overall prevalence of asthma; 

12 ‘‘(II) financial burden of asthma 

13 on society; 

14 ‘‘(III) burden of asthma on dis15 proportionately affected areas, par16 ticularly those in medically under17 served populations (as defined in sec18 tion 330(b)(3)); and 

19 ‘‘(IV) burden of asthma as a 

20 chronic disease; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the identification of programs 

22 and policies that have achieved the steps 

23 described under clause (iii), and steps that 

24 may be taken to expand such programs 


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1 and policies to benefit larger populations; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(v) recommendations for future re4 search and interventions. 

5 ‘‘(2) UPDATES TO CONGRESS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) CONGRESSIONAL REQUEST.—During 

7 the 5-year period following the submission of 

8 the report under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

9 shall submit updates and revisions of the report 

10 upon the request of the Congress. 

11 ‘‘(B) FIVE-YEAR REEVALUATION.—At the 

12 end of the 5-year period following the submis13 sion of the report under paragraph (1), the Sec14 retary shall evaluate the analyses and rec15 ommendations made under such report and de16 termine whether a new report to the Congress 

17 is necessary, and make appropriate rec18 ommendations to the Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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